N757KN - A Cessna 152

I remember that tail number vividly. When I first started taking flying lessons, this was the aircraft's registration. A Cessna 152 that was large enough to fit two people but small enough to practically be on each others laps.

FRG (Farmingdale Republic Airport) is a busy, tower controlled field in Long Island. I lived in Brooklyn and my dad would drive me an hour to the airfield for my flying lessons. We were driving home after my very first lesson and the radio news was reporting a light airplane accident in the vicinity of FRG. After calling the family to assure them we were safe, we called the flight school and it was confirmed. N757KN was involved in a mid-air collision with another aircraft on short final.

Only two hours earlier, I tied down N757KN on the ramp and my instructor signed my logbook for the first time. It was a 1.4 hour flight with one landing in VFR day conditions. The feeling that I had flown an aircraft, which had now been involved in an accident and ended in the deaths of 2 people, was overwhelming.

I spent the next week wondering if I wanted to continue taking flying lessons. I learned some facts about flying that the general public just doesn't know. Here's what I learned...

Your odds of Death by...

• Cardiovascular disease: 1 in 2
• Smoking (by / before age 35): 1 in 600
• Car trip, coast-to-coast across the USA: 1 in 14,000
• Bicycle accident: 1 in 88,000
• Tornado: 1 in 450,000
• Train, coast-to-coast: 1 in 1,000,000
• Lightning: 1 in 1.9 million
• Bee sting: 1 in 5.5 million
• U.S. commercial jet airline: 1 in 7 million

Number of Accidental Deaths Per Year By Cause in the USA

• 100 on commercial flights
• 850 by electrocution
• 1000 on a bicycle
• 1452 by accidental gunfire
• 3000 by complications to medical procedures
• 3600 by inhaling or ingesting objects
• 5000 by fire
• 5000 by drowning
• 5300 by accidental poisoning
• 8000 as pedestrians
• 11,000 at work
• 12,000 by falls
• 22,500 at home
• 46,000 in motor car accidents

After spending some time researching facts regarding aviation safety, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to continue my flying lessons. My parents then brought me to the flight school for a sit down talk with the owner, remember I was 13 at the time. It was the first of many good decisions that I made regarding my aviation career. I will soon learn that their will be many obstacles on my quest to become an airline pilot.

I do not know what happened to N757KN after the accident. The aircraft, however, will remain forever in my memory as the first aircraft I ever flew.

My First Flight

When I took my first flying lesson at 13, my dad later told me that it was to scare me out of flying! He said "Flying is a tough business" and that "I wouldn't like it." You see, he worked for Eastern Airlines many years ago as a Ramper and a Manager. After Continental bought Eastern, he lost his job that he loved and wanted to protect me from going through the same pain.

After my very first lesson at Farmingdale Republic Airport (FRG) in Long Island, I was hooked for life. My Grandma lives close to this airport and every time we visited her, I would insist that we drove past it, even if it was 10 minutes out of the way. I especially liked going by it at night since it was all lit up with the blue taxi lights.

My father reluctantly agreed to pay for my first flying lesson as an early birthday present. He called up the flight school and made an appointment for me to meet my instructor and go flying on March 20th, 1994.

I arrived at the airport on a crisp March morning for my first lesson. I was extremely excited and nervous. Something as thrilling as the prospect of flying would make nearly anyone get butterflies. My first instructor was a young guy named Peter who was just biding his time to become an airline pilot himself. He taught me how to pre-flight a Cessna 152 and after warming up the engine, we taxied to the runway for takeoff.

"Relax" he told me. "You'll be surprised at how fast you catch on." He explained the airspeed indicator and the hand throttle and all the airplanes controls. "Always be gentle with the controls...relax, be smooth and easy" he said. As we scanned the sky for other airplanes, Peter called the control tower for clearance to take off. "Clear for takeoff," radioed the tower.

The palms of my hands were damp as I pushed the throttle for full power. I held the dual control wheel in front of me to feel what Peter did to takeoff. Accelerate...airspeed...45...50...55...hold gentle back pressure...lift off, we're flying!

It was amazing. I learned how to fly straight ahead, make turns, climbs, and how to descend. Before I knew it, my first flight was over. An hour ago I had no idea I could pilot a plane so easily...and confidently. We returned to the field and as I walked to the hangar, I felt like a changed man. I had learned something new and felt bigger for the experience. It was more satisfying than I had ever imagined.

When I looked ahead to the ways flying could change things for me, my father just smiled and said he was happy I had such a good time. And thus was the first day I went flying which began a lifetime of memories.